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Bill Gates
Overview William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, the world's third richest person (as of 2008), and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the individual shareholder with the most shares, with more than 9 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books. Gates was born in Seattle, Washington and excelled in school. He enrolled at Harvard College in 1973, where he met Steve Ballmer, who would later become CEO of Microsoft. After reading the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, Gates contacted Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems and provided them with the Altair BASIC, and thus Microsoft was formed. This led to a partnership with IBM that required Microsoft to make the BASIC interpreter for the IBM PC. Later on, Gates struck another deal with IBM, allowing IBM to package Microsoft's PC-DOS software with IBM's personal computers in exchange for a fee paid to Microsoft for every computer sold. This deal established Microsoft as a major player in the software industry. Out of this eventually came the Windows operating system, which serves 90% of the personal computers of the world. Microsoft under his auspices went on to develop hundreds of applications software programs for the enterprise, business, and the individual, most famously the Windows Office Suite that included word processing (Word), spreadsheet (Excel), database (Access), presentation (PowerPoint), and email communications (Outlook) amongst others. Microsoft also developed enterprise versions of Windows (Windows Server) as well as other centralized tools including Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint. Microsoft also sold many applications for entertainment and has sold hardware products from mice to keyboards to the X Box. Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Although he is admired by many, a large number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts. In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000. Bill Gates stepped down from most of his duties on June 27, 2008. Over a span of several years Ray Ozzie took over as chief software architect, Craig Mundie as chief research and strategy officer, and Steve Ballmer as chief executive officer. Gates remains the chairman of Microsoft's board of directors. Benefits Created *helped launch the personal computer revolution *created software that greatly facilitated the organizational and creative processes of life *providing the operating system software that computers around the world standardized on *empowered hundreds of millions of user around the world through the personal computer *legitimized the concept of software for the masses Reasons for Success *worked very hard *was very conscious of his time *was ambitious since childhood *believed he could solve problems by exercising his mind *confident he could be a big success *was ambitious *wanted to change the world. *was financially very conservative *had confidence in what he was doing *was a workaholic *has a good mind for figures *has a good memory and aptitude for learning *learned from his past mistakes *had a highly creative mind *devoted full concentration to his work *was a technologist who also had great business sense *was part of a group eager to bring the PC to business and the general public *was self confident; believed in himself *had no fear of anyone *did not listen to the herd; thought for himself *became what he wanted to become *was not afraid of forces, companies much bigger than his *had highly creative mind *blended technology with needs of the people *ability to blend the technical and business side *Was very aware and tactical in dealing with the competition *had a slow, steady plan to succeed *was not boastful or boisterous *used common sense approaches to life *brought legacy systems forward; did not abandon them *tried to solve every conceivable business problem *made tactical use of his advantage (e.g. DOS) *was a willing player with his technology (variety of vendors who built PCs off of Dos and Windows) *company collaborated well with others *established powerful relationships *conservative financial practices *very persistent *took advantage of poorly run rivals *made software that was easy to use *hired smart people *was willing to make a u-turn to improve things *understood the importance of investing in research *saw where the market was going and got ahead of it *created dynamic small group culture *deemphasized status symbols. Respect had to be earned *had luck, destiny on his side; right place at the right time *outstanding marketer *started out with some money; successful parent *took gambles *was ruthless *wanted to dominate markets entered *used initial low price approach to lure in customers *had product line that appealed to business and the general public *used the force and power of business's who used his products *simplified business practices that had been complicated *standardized business organization and practices *beta tested all products through business *sought feedback from business about his products *brought developers into the fold through generous offerings *created relationships wherever possible *was generally forthcoming *incorporated innovations from competitors *integrated features from others to create standard, simplified approach *standardized acrosss product lines wherever possible *created a common look and feel across products *was aggressive *abused their strength and domination *occasionally squashed competitors to the point of ruthlessness *had no qualms about dominating others Category:Accomplishment Category:Business Category:Change-makers Category:Management Category:Money Category:Pioneer Category:Prosperity Category:Wealth